High School Big Buddy Mentors Make Big Impact in the Lives of Local Children

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Shelby and Darke County is excited to announce that another great year of the Big Buddies program is up and running. This is the Fourtenth year the program has been in place. The Buddies program is an eight-month commitment where high school sophomores, juniors and seniors agree to work with and mentor elementary aged children two times per month. During these meetings, the high school students, under the supervision of Big Brothers Big Sisters staff, work with one or two children on different educational and recreational activities. The program continues to promote social and educational enhancing activities, as well as fitness, nutrition, and personal safety.

The Buddies program this year is at a total of five different sites in both counties for the 2013-2014 school year. These sessions are held at Woodland Heights and Versailles in Darke County, as well as Longfellow, Northwood, and Whittier Elementary Schools in Shelby County.

High school mentoring programs have become a widespread component of many nationally affiliated Big Brothers Big Sisters agencies. Studies prove that children from who spend time with a positive role model are more likely to become healthy productive adults. The Big Buddies program has proven beneficial not only for the “Littles” but for the high school volunteers, as well.

The agency is pleased to announce that all after-school programs are up and running! This year we kicked off the programs with a total of 68 volunteers from Ansonia, Anna, Botkins, Christian Academy, Fort Loramie, Greenville, Houston, Jackson Center, Lehman, Russia, Sidney & Versailles.

The following high school volunteers for the fall of 2013 are:

Ansonia: Hannah Brown, Brooklyn Wampler, Hayley Wampler, Gayla Crabtree, Samantha Gasper, Holli Hammaker, Jennifer Mayo, Brooke Neal, Jordan Newman, Courtney Turner, & Madison Young. Greenville: Hannah Cloyd, Emily Fulton, Kristen Grim, Sarah Herzog, Chloe Lance, Candice Malott, Will McCabe, Michelle Mead, Krutant Mehta, Alexis Minnich, Casey Mortensen, & Alicia Tanpaitoonditi.

Versailles: Cole Albers, Jadyn Barga, Jessica Barga, Tyler Bruns, Ashley Cochran, Cassidy Condon, Samantha Dilsaver, Katelyn Goettemoeller, Madison Keiser, Mallory Keiser, Aaron Melling, Courtney Rose, Chrissy Runner, Rachel Shelhaas, & Kristin Simp. Anna: Chadler Bensman, Kylie Comer, Bridget Hoehne, Jennifer Larger, Jodie Schmitmeyer, Samantha Heitkamp, Corey Abbott, Kiarra Ibarra, & Wesley Showalter. Botkins: Mackenzie Brown, Chloe Flora, & Amber Buehler. Christian Academy: Caleb Ordean. Fort Loramie: Katie Ahrns, Jordyn Humphreys, & Jerrica Holthaus. Jackson Center: Alison Burt, Jessica Hilyard, Meridith Himmeger, & Riley Morris Lehman: Kaitlinn Gillman, McKenna Guillozet, Caroline Heitmeyer, Olivia Sehlhorst, Mitchell Slater, Sarah Fuller, Jennifer Kaeck, Maria Pannapara, Taylor Schmidt, Ana Vazquez, Karly Baird, Claudia Fatone, Joe Fuller, Lauren Goettemoeller, Tyler Scott, & Zach Scott. Russia: Trevor Albers Sidney: Brittany Fleming, Malinda Lovett, Mariah Bowser-Jones, Sarah Beck, Bethany Erickson, Kira Hoover, Holli James, Allysia Kindell, Logan Schultz, Lauren Spaugy, Morgan Stiffler, Leah Stone, Gold Barnes, Katelyn Larger, Alena Moton, Sierra Palacious, & Kylee Watercutter. Fairlawn: Rachel King. Please note that these are the current list of volunteers posted the date of this press release. The agency is currently still accepting additional volunteers at some of our sites.

In addition to our after-school program the agency has 87 community-based matches throughout Shelby and Darke County. These matches meet with each other twice a month for outings which are planned around the volunteers own schedule. The goal of the community-based program is to match a local child with an adult mentor, who can serve as a positive role model, and expose the child to enhancing and uplifting activities. Currently the agency has 25 children waiting for a Big Brother or Sister in the program, so now is the time to think about how you could put a little sparkle into the life of a child! If you are interested in becoming a mentor in our community-based program, please call 547-9622 or 492-7611 for more information.

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Shelby & Darke County is a United Way member agency and an affiliate of Big Brothers Big Sisters of America. The Buddies program is partially funded by the Ruther and Emerson Booher Committee advised fund & The Versailles Foundation Fund for Versailles and The Vectren Foundaton Fund. If you would like more information about how to become a volunteer, you may visit the agency web site at www.bigbrobigsis-shelbydarke.org or call the Sidney office at (937)492-7611 or the Greenville office at (937)547-9622.